Xover: Changing of the Guard 3: Be All That You Can Be 19/22
Ecolea (ecolea@WT.NET)
Fri, 28 Sep 2001 08:09:54 GMT
If you are recieving a second copy of this, please forgive me,
but I have had reports that it has not gone through for many
people on the list. Apologies, Ecolea.
Chapter 24
"Sergeant Bear?" Gina came forward holding a palm sized computer,
looking worried.
"Yes, Airman?"
"The manifest, Sergeant. It doesn't add up. Some of the weapons
are missing."
"Zipak'na," Teal'c frowned as the others finished laying the last
of the charges.
"We go after him?" Bear asked Teal'c. Apophis' former First Prime
might technically hold no rank, but the man had been a general
and was nominally O'Neill's second in command as far as he was
concerned.
It was half suggestion, half question and Teal'c considered it
thoughtfully. "We must complete our mission," the Jaffa decided.
"And await further orders."
"All done, Sergeant," Robert reported a little breathlessly as he
and Ptahsennes came up.
"It will make a lovely boom," the priest added as they waited for
the others. "Do you not think so, Robert?"
"Sort of reminds me of when I got my first cannon," the pirate
mused. "Hours of fun. God, I really do miss the old days."
Ptahsennes nodded sadly. "We really knew what fun was then."
The other Immortals soon joined them and Sergeant Bear did a
quick head count. "All right, people, let's move out. We've still
got a job to do. Any idea where to find Colonel O'Neill?" he
asked Teal'c as they fell in.
The crackle of the radio answered the question for him.
"You there, big guy?" O'Neill's voice came through loud and
clear.
"I am, O'Neill. We have completed our task."
"Copy. Any trouble?"
"A few minor problems," the Jaffa grinned as he moved past a
corpse. "But they will trouble us no further. Unfortunately, the
greater difficulty is Lord Zipak'na. It appears he may still be
in possession of some of the weapons and may have already left
this world."
"Damn! Okay. I've got Pierson and Cassandra. We're headed for the
exit. Meets us there. O'Neill out."
"Things appear to be getting interesting," Ramirez said quietly
to Amanda as the first squad moved up and they waited for
Sergeant Bear's order to join them.
"Interesting? You said it, brother!"
***
O'Neill, Methos and Cassandra met up with the others at the
rings. Oddly enough they'd encountered little resistance and it
confirmed the colonel's fears that Zipak'na and Kabra'kan either
had, or were, in the process of leaving. As soon as they were
down in the tunnels he radioed the team at the gate only to
discover they were under fire.
"We're pinned down," Carter reported. "It's a large force. Looks
like they don't want us bringing in any more support, sir."
So that's where the troops are, O'Neill nodded as he felt the
ground start to rumble. Not from their explosives he was sure,
but from the sound of it the Goa'uld were planning to take off.
"Okay, Carter. Have Martouf get hold of Jacob. He should still be
in the area. Have him meet us at the spot we picked out. Then get
our people back through the gate."
She confirmed the order and O'Neill switched off, moving up to
join Bear, Teal'c and Methos. Someone -- O'Neill looked around
and spotted MacLeod out of uniform -- had given Methos their
jacket.
"We're leaving. Have Amanda open the door," he ordered and
Sergeant Bear made it happen.
A few minutes later they were cautiously moving into the jungle
when an explosion rocked the ship behind them.
"Touchdown!" O'Neill muttered as they all looked back. With a
frown, he saw a smaller ship accompanied by several death gliders
escaping into the atmosphere. "Damn it!" he shouted even as
Teal'c started firing and those with Laws rockets pulled them
out. They would never make it he realized and looked to Methos.
"We can't let any of those weapons get off this planet," he told
the Immortal.
Wearing a faintly stunned expression Methos nodded and stood up.
Good man, O'Neill thought, taking cover with Teal'c as he ordered
everybody down and to cease fire.
There was silence and surprise among the others, then they
watched as Methos raised his arm. The skies suddenly darkened and
thunder slammed through the forest as the Quickening came down
touching them all. They writhed, caught in the grip of its power.
A few cried out questions, but Methos merely held his stance, a
look of intense concentration on his normally placid face. All at
once he pointed and a bolt of lightening shot from his other hand
and into the sky. It snapped upward, seeming to search for its
target and an instant later a series of explosions could be heard
in the distance. Without a word, Methos lowered his arms and the
phenomenon stopped.
"Bloody hell," Robert muttered, staring wide eyed. "He really is
Methos."
The ancient Immortal only smiled. "I'm hoping that was
Kabra'kan," he casually told Jack. "I do sometimes like to keep
my promises."
***
"Where are the weapons?" Jacob asked an hour later as O'Neill and
the others trooped aboard.
"Hello. How are you? Good to see you. Glad you're alive," O'Neill
muttered. "Not a word and then all he asks for is presents."
"Kids," Methos sagely nodded.
"This isn't funny, Jack," the Tok'ra frowned. "You promised to
get those weapons and--"
"As I recall," O'Neill corrected. "The deal was: Whatever weapons
we retrieve, we share. Well, we didn't retrieve any, so there's
nothing to share."
"You tricked us!" Selmak snarled.
"What goes around comes around," O'Neill shrugged.
"I can't believe George would lie to us like this!" Carter spoke
this time, just as furious as his symbiote.
"He didn't," O'Neill responded honestly. "The orders came
directly from above. All the way above. Ah, come on, Jacob,"
O'Neill argued as the other man sputtered in outrage. "What's the
point of obtaining weapons so advanced you know you can't use 'em
because you can't figure 'em out? And the folks you plan to share
them with won't give you a hint about how? Did you think we
suddenly got stupid once you left? That we believe all that crap
about the Tok'ra helping us out the next time the Goa'uld show
up? Have the Tok'ra ever even offered us a run down cargo ship
like this one so we wouldn't have to beg for a ride?" O'Neill
shook his head. "It's just a one way street with you guys. You
don't trust us? Well, right back at ya, Selmak. We blew the damn
weapons up because we found 'em first and if we can't use 'em no
one else will!"
Furious, Jacob stalked from the room and headed for the control
center. O'Neill turned to find the Immortals staring at him,
serious expressions all around.
"Is this typical of this alliance?" Ramirez quietly asked Teal'c.
"Don't answer that," O'Neill curtly interrupted. "You folks wanna
know the truth? Fine. We give, they take. They ask, we give. Am I
suspicious? You bet I am. But when it comes right down to it the
Tok'ra are all we've got. So for now we put up with it.
Understood?"
"Clearly," Alexander nodded as did the others. "Anything else we
should know about them?"
O'Neill looked over his shoulder to make sure Jacob wasn't within
hearing distance. "It's not PC, but when you get past the fact
that they call it blending and let their hosts speak for
themselves, they're all just snakeheads deep down inside. As far
as I'm concerned this so-called alliance has way too parasitic a
feel for us to trust 'em. Now, everybody inside," he pointed to
the crew quarters. "There's not a whole lot of room and it'll
take us three days to get where we're going. Let's try and keep
it civil, campers."